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ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine Endpoint Central
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (4th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (3rd)
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (2nd), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. ManageEngine Endpoint Central is designed for Client Desktop Management and holds a mindshare of 44.4%, up 35.4% compared to last year.
Microsoft Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Server Monitoring, holds 9.5% mindshare, down 11.4% since last year.
Client Desktop Management
Server Monitoring
 

Q&A Highlights

 

Featured Reviews

Edgar Serrano - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 21, 2023
Good patch management and remote control but needs better support
Our agency did not have any way to manage the actual computers we provided our users. The tech support team would take such a long time to get to a user because they had to physically walk to every office to support the client.  The primary use case for this product was to have a solution in place…
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 12, 2022
We can specialize the policies related to each device group which ensures that each group has access to the applications they need for their work and non-work hours
I give the solution a nine out of ten. Maintenance is required for some client requests because a few of our cases involve clients reporting issues with their applications. We need to maintain their laptops because they usually run into issues while running other applications. However, in the case of personal computers, there is no problem. We can maintain them with only 20% of the typical maintenance requirements. I would recommend that everyone try out the Endpoint Manager solution from Microsoft. It is a great product because it integrates well with Microsoft products, which most organizations use. This reduces the number of integration and troubleshooting problems. Even if Microsoft products are not used in an organization, I still recommend this product. Other solutions are available but there may be some integration and troubleshooting problems.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It's a complete product that allows you to remote troubleshoot, has an inventory of systems."
"The most important feature we found to be useful in the COVID situation is the secure connection, which gives the IT support staff the ability to seamlessly connect with the users remotely and in a secure way."
"I like being able to image over the network. That's a nice feature that it has. Patch management is pretty decent on it as well."
"Has good functionality and is user-friendly."
"Page management and ADA integrations are the most valuable features of ManageEngine Endpoint Central."
"Well, what we like is that it catch actually a lot of features constantly upgrading. So all the three maybe there there were some features as the tenant on the earliest version. Now it's it's almost everything that we we need. So managing security ManageEngine configuration. It's we are very satisfied because it has the Telstra that's what we we need."
"The most valuable features of ManageEngine Endpoint Central are patch management and remote access and management."
"Honestly, I have to say all features together have become the Swiss army knife of desktop management. They all work hand in hand. Software deployment saves an unbelievable amount of time installing an application on hundreds of computers."
"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is valuable in keeping our systems updated. We are able to send updates to all the systems. Additionally, the Intune integration is helpful."
"It is a good choice for deployment that performs very well."
"It does the job and meets our needs. With everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything. The deployment of PCs is easy."
"This solution captures all the devices in our infrastructure."
"The major features of this product are the reporting tools. The most valuable features are package deployment and application deployment. Security management is also good because any vulnerability will be identified, and you can fix it. It's the best tool because you never know what kind of client you will have. For example, you may have your offices in low bandwidth remote areas. But it's achievable because it accommodates the bandwidth that you have available. Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is an excellent reporting tool for your environment. If you want to know the details about the hardware configuration, software configuration, what is causing a problem, or when a new feature update comes in for Windows, even that goes on SCCM itself. A lot of deployment stuff."
"The solution is highly scalable."
"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope."
"The scalability to deploy the package."
 

Cons

"I really feel like asset explorer should be a component of desktop central. That would make it the ultimate desktop management tool. This would also simplify the asset management role since an agent is already being deployed and assets could be added at the same time."
"I would like to see more click to complete actions such as - USB lockdown for Mac, the ability to check AV compliance on servers, bit locker controls, printer tracking or print page tracking, self-help for self-healing like "BMC my IT" and more options in the self-service menu other than just software - maybe add integration in ADSelfService at the self-service menu."
"Its licensing should be improved."
"Improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"Desktop Central has very good information, however, you can't customize the dashboards."
"The only problem with it is that the setup isn't very intuitive. I know that they just upgraded the product to make it a little bit easier to use, but compared to some of the other platforms, it is not easy to configure it, set it up, and get it running. However, once you have set it up and got it running, it runs great."
"The product must provide more API integrations with different ERP tools."
"ManageEngine should support various browser features, including those that address browser limitations."
"The main thing is that SCCM has to become an appliance instead of a server. When I say appliance, it has to come preconfigured so that it is drop-shipped into the enterprise and then you activate the feature sets that you want. It should pull down all the latest binaries. Once that is all there, it should have a discovery tool which goes out and discovers the assets within an enterprise. If the server, workstation, and applications are all coming from the same vendor, why not have the vendor do this work for us and automate it as much as it possibly can?"
"Built in PowerShell cmdlets would be a nice feature because managing clients remotely can be a pain without knowing the WMI calls to run."
"Initial setup was complex. There's a lot that goes into it."
"It would be better if automation options were available. For example, in Nexthink or SysTrack, there is an analytical tool. Creating dashboards would be very easy if you implement the same thing in Microsoft. That report will be a daily cost to the customers and good revenue for our organization. The price also could be better. In the next release, we need to include some features like tables, dashboards, surveys, services, and metrics in the dashboard. Whatever we are implementing will be downloaded by a report. Apart from the report, we will telecast from the dashboard. It's very easy to compare, and it will be easy to telecast to the end-users."
"One area of improvement is regarding the patching of Office 365 products. We have some difficulties on this side, and it can be improved."
"The solution should be more compatible with different versions of Linux."
"Not everything is readily available, and there are a lot of commands that are only executable via PowerShell."
"This solution needs to be supported on all Operating systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be cheaper."
"The pricing is average."
"The product is not costly. The product is properly priced, especially for SMBs."
"We pay about $250 a year for our license."
"The solution is very affordable."
"Affordable for any customer."
"The pricing of the product is not bad compared to the other similar solutions in the market."
"The licensing is very easy to understand and pricing is right for what you get."
"The price could be better."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"The price of SCCM depends on the size of the organization. The price is competitive."
"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."
"Microsoft provides a steep price for their enterprise products, but they offer very competitive pricing for their legacy customers."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager an eight out of ten."
"The price is competitive and reasonable."
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Answers from the Community

NC
Dec 1, 2021
Dec 1, 2021
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily and use the chat feature to speak with any user. In addition, using this product has helped me identify outdated PCs and has been very useful when I have needed to assist with remote control and softwa...
2 out of 5 answers
SD
Nov 23, 2021
My recommendation is to use MS Intune as a solution and you can drop both SCCM and ManageEngine Desktop Central.  Intune is the best solution for managing mobile devices and endpoints. You can also manage your servers but there will be some difficulty in managing on-premises servers. 
MW
Nov 24, 2021
Quest's Unified Endpoint Management - please have a look at this solution: easy to manage, best for mass task deployment, comprehensive and customized reporting.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
43%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
What do you like most about ManageEngine Endpoint Central?
Well, what we like is that it catch actually a lot of features constantly upgrading. So all the three maybe there there were some features as the tenant on the earliest version. Now it's it's almos...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine Endpoint Central?
Compared to Intune, ManageEngine is not expensive but its pricing is somewhat higher since it offers all the features. If they reduce the cost, more people would opt for ManageEngine.
How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
What do you like most about SCCM?
One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCCM?
The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities.
 

Also Known As

ManageEngine Desktop Central, Desktop Central, ManageEngine Desktop Management MSP
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Strathallan School, BMI Healthcare, Comercial Kywi, First Priority Federal Credit Union, Gerab National Enterprises
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad